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1.4.2-Ariverontherun
Brick!Club 1.4.2: First Sketch of Two Equivocal Faces So I kept meaning to actually post things for brick!club, but what with one thing or another, it never happened. But here I am now! In the FMA this chapter is called “First Sketch of Two Equivocal Faces” and in the Julie Rose, it’s “Initial Sketch of Two Shady Characters.” The Julie Rose probably gets the characterization of the Thénardiers across more effectively, but I’m not quite sure how I feel about “shady characters.” Equivocal and shady don’t really seem to me to mean the same thing. Another interesting difference I saw between translations was the names listed at the end. The FMA translates them to Thomas, Peter, and Jack, while the Julie Rose leaves them Thomas, Pierre, and Jacques. Not much really happens in this chapter, but it tells us about the Thénardiers and gives Hugo an excuse for another little digression about names. Is the description of Madame Thénardier loving trashy romance novels supposed to make us look down upon her? It doesn’t really seem like something that’s evil, and kind of actually makes me feel sympathetic towards her. But Hugo does say that reading “stupid novels” is bad for you, so maybe we’re supposed to be contemptuous of her literary choices. After all, we’re reading Les Mis, so I’m sure that Hugo thinks that we’ve clearly got better taste. Still, I don’t think that we can really condemn her just based on the fact that she has dubious literary taste. (We can, however, condemn her for the way she treats Cosette - but that’s not till next chapter.) (As an aside, when I first read the brick, I got it from my library, and instead of Madame Thénardier, that translation called her ‘the Thenardiess.’ I always thought it sounded scarier than just plain Madame Thénardier.) Commentary Pilferingapples I’ve always loved “Thenardiess” too. ^_^ It’s good to know the names were originally the French versions; I was wondering if Hugo had noticed some bizarre fad for Anglicized names! Timegoddessrose (reply to Pilferingapples) I’ve always found Mdm Thenardier’s love for romance novels to be a really humanizing and endearing quality, despite what Hugo tries to imply. I love that she has something that is her own, and I love that she loves something even after the inn has gone under and they’re in dire straits (notice, she has her romance novels even in the ‘Jondrette cave’). It’s a constant reminder to me that this is a human being, somebody who loves stories, in bad taste or no, and who probably has escapist tendencies. And no matter how awful she is, how terrible, how utterly detestable her behavior, I always remember that somewhere in there is a little girl lost in the pages of a book, and I think we all can relate to that and that is a sobering fact, for me. (I’m by no means apologizing or explaining away any of her behavior, or anyone’s behavior, or somehow implying it’s all okay just because she reads romance novels, btw.) /rambling Columbina (reply to Timegoddessrose's reply) Oh my goodness, I just want you to know that I love this post, please ramble more if this is what your rambling is like. Pilferingapples (reply to Timegoddessrose's reply) Really I think her bad side is made the more horrible in light of all the little human, sympathetic touches to her; she DOES have love in her, she wants even more (the romances), she has her hobby and tries to find joy in the squalor of her life…but she basically has no idea how to share that with the world without hurting others. Also, yay, nice to see you here, xix!